CLEVELAND, Ohio – The news tends to moves quickly on cleveland.com, and that has most definitely been the case today. Here are some of the stories from the past 12 hours you might have missed, including Ed FitzGerald explaining why he was in a parked car with a woman other than his wife, the Cleveland firefighters union appealing the suspension of several supervisors and special protocol being put in place for next week's same-sex marriage hearings in Cincinnati.

Ed FitzGerald explains suspicious behavior in parked car

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald at his campaign kickoff for governor in April 2012.Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer

Officers responding to a call of suspicious behavior found Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and a woman who was not his wife in a parked car at 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday in 2012, police records here show.

Nothing inappropriate happened in the car, FitzGerald, now the Democratic nominee for governor, said Friday in a telephone interview after a campaign stop in Cincinnati.

FitzGerald, a former FBI agent, prosecutor and mayor of Lakewood, was not charged with a crime. He said the woman with him was a friend visiting from Ireland as part of a larger delegation he and others entertained the prior evening.

Cleveland Firefighters Local 93 President Frank Szabo said the union will appeal Chief Patrick Kelly's decision to suspend 17 fire supervisors for their roles in a shift-trading scandal.Cory Shaffer, Northeast Ohio Media Group

The Association of Cleveland Firefighters Local 93 said it will appeal Chief Patrick Kelly's decision to suspend 17 fire supervisors in the wake of a shift-trading scandal that saw criminal charges against 12 firefighters.

In a Friday morning press release, the union said its supervisors filed accurate daily time records each shift and said the buck ultimately stopped with former Chief Paul Stubbs.

Local 93 President Frank Szabo said at a press conference that supervisors followed the chain of command, reporting each and every shift trade up the ladder in logs, and reported the practice to upper management, including Stubbs' office. | Read Cory Shaffer's story

Special protocol planned for same-sex marriage hearings

A throng of spectators is expected Wednesday at the Potter Stewart Courthouse in Cincinnati, where the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear three hours of oral arguments dealing with same-sex marriage in Ohio and three other states.AP file Photo

In anticipation of a throng of spectators at the Potter Stewart Courthouse on Wednesday, court officials have gone to unusual lengths to accommodate more than 200 people expected to attend the same-sex marriage hearings.

The special protocol is noteworthy, said Pierre Bergeron, a Cincinnati lawyer who runs a blog dedicated to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear the five gay marriage cases from Ohio and three other states.

"In other affirmative action cases in other jurisdictions they've had standing room only in the courtrooms," said Bergeron. | Read James F. McCarty's story

Facing a deadline that could have made it tough for states to pay for highways fixes and transit systems to keep running smoothly, the Senate last night agreed to a short-term, $10.8 billion transportation bill. With the House already on board, the measure now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

But Ohio's Rob Portman was one of 13 senators who voted no.

"I could not support this legislation because it kicks the tough decisions down the road," Portman said in a statement. "This is a serious problem that demands bold solutions and I believe strongly that Congress must immediately work on a long-term plan that eliminates costly and wasteful federal bureaucracy, makes the system more fair, and empowers the states to set their own infrastructure priorities." | Read Stephen Koff's story

The hiring of Columbus-based GOP consultant Gene Pierce comes at a time when the Schron campaign is attempting to raise funds from many of the same business leaders who were deeply involved in the effort to pass the tax issue.

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